Wed28Dec11

Mulla Nasruddin was a rich man and had a beautiful marble palace in the town. Even the king was jealous of him and had offered him whatsoever money Nasruddin wanted in exchange of the palace. But Nasruddin was insistent that he was not going to sell the palace to anybody at any price.

Mulla Nasruddin was once coming from a faraway journey in a small ship, and suddenly there was a thunder storm, lightening and rains. It appeared that there was no chance of surviving. But, now that his life was in danger he prayed to the God and said, O God! I will sell my palace and donate the money to the poor, but please save my life!

And it so happened that the moment he prayed, the storm started subsiding. Now, Nasruddin started having second thoughts, Maybe the storm was going to subside anyway. I have unnecessarily risked my palace.

But then again he was in for a big surprise. The storm started rising again and Nasruddin was quite scared . He prayed again, O God! Please don’t be bothered about my thoughts &. I was only joking, but whatsoever I have promised you I will do. I will sell the palace and donate the money to the poor and the storm subsided again. Although Nasruddin had second thoughts, he was afraid. So, anyhow he reached the shore and the next day he announced in the whole town that he was going to auction his palace. All the rich people, even the king, the prime minister, other ministers, everybody gathered, because all were interested in his palace. They were all surprised at his announcement.

People saw that, just in front of the palace Nasruddin had chained a cat, and he announced to the people, Listen carefully! The price of the cat is fifty lakh rupees, and the price of my palace is only one rupee, but whoever buys the palace has to buy the cat. Both are for sale together.

People were surprised at this announcement, but the king purchased them both. Fifty lakh rupees were p aid for the cat, one rupee for the palace.

Immediately, Nasruddin donated that one rupee to some beggars and prayed, O God! Look, I have fulfilled my promise!

Moral of the Story:
We see people putting up their demands to the God or bargaining with the God about their health and wealth and welfare. The bottom line of their prayer is, You fulfill my desires and I will do something for you. As if God is a trader!

When things are done out of greed, out of fear, we are unable to do them with our heart. We are cunning and keep finding ways. However, a true prayer is neither a bargain nor a business. It is an expression of gratefulness for all that is already given to us by the existence. Just as a flower blooms and spreads its fragrance, a content heart overflows with gratitude towards the existence. Prayer is the fragrance of the fulfilled heart.